Ridings Shopping Centre £5m investment

A £5m investment in Wakefield’s Ridings Shopping Centre will create 30 jobs and a new indoor market.

The centre’s owner has announced details of a year-long refurbishment project at the 34-year Ridings.

All Saints Market will open in the centre’s lower mall, along with a food hall, as part of the investment by real estate company NewRiver REIT, which bought the Ridings in 2016.

A new food and drink area called the Ridings Kitchen will also open at the Cathedral entrance to the centre.

Lee Appleton, the centre’s newly-appointed regional director, said “The Ridings has literally been at the heart of Wakefield for 34 years so we are delighted to announce that with this £5m refurbishment, it will remain that way.”

The Ridings opened in 1983, designed by the city’s chief planning officer Peter Spawforth. The following year it was named European Shopping Centre of the Year.